About St. Joseph Health

SJH provides a full range of care facilities including 16 acute care hospitals,
home health agencies, hospice care, outpatient services, skilled nursing
facilities, community clinics and physician groups. All of our hospital
and home health entities are accredited by the Joint Commission. In our
award-winning facilities, SJH maintains a "continuum of care," matched
to the diverse needs of the urban centers, smaller cities and rural communities
who depend on us every day.

HealthCalling

Diabetes and Eating Out: Smart Food Swaps

People with diabetes must make smart choices when dining out -- here are
some tips for ordering at restaurants

Dining out: It’s fun, it’s easy, it’s fast. And for Americans,
who spend fully half of their food dollars eating out, it’s a way
of life. Whether it’s for social, business or economic reasons --
or people are just too busy to cook – eating outside the home is
an increasingly common way Americans like to dine. While overdoing it
in terms of quantity (and quality) is a danger to everyone’s health,
for people with diabetes, eating out can present additional significant
challenges.

“Having a healthy meal plan, and sticking to it, is central to managing
diabetes,” says
Sarah Brewer, MD, a family medicine physician at
Mission Heritage Medical Group. “Whether you eat at home or at a restaurant, knowing what to eat
and how it should be prepared is something that needs to be monitored
closely."

"When someone else is doing the cooking, it can be easy to lose track
of important details in your diet goals,” adds Dr. Brewer. “But
with the help of your doctor, and thoughtful planning, eating out doesn’t
have to undermine your diabetes diet.”

Not all people with diabetes have the same treatment plan or nutritional
goals. For some, the top menu consideration is to limit sugar, fat or
salt; others focus on cutting total calories. For any diabetic, it is
important to work with your physician to establish a good meal plan. And,
if that meal plan that is written out, it makes it that much simpler to
find and order the
right kinds of foods.

Start with Good Restaurant Choices For a meal plan to work, there are some common sense steps to take in
advance of eating out – starting with choosing the right restaurants.
You can narrow down your list of restaurants by first looking at menus
online. Your food requirements can be cross-checked against the menu,
to see how many items match up to your diet plan. If a restaurant offers
a wide variety of dishes, it can make it easier to order, and that restaurant
can probably be added to the list of places to go.

Some other factors to consider: Does the restaurant allow substitutions,
or permit customers to split dishes at no extra charge? Do they have specialty,
vegetarian or sugar-free options? Are they willing to prepare sauces to
order that don’t have butter or
salt? A good restaurant accommodates requests cheerfully, and is worth visiting
again and again.

Tips on What to Order Once a restaurant has been decided on, here are some tips for ordering:

Instead of: French fries | Order: Double veggies Ask for extra veggies instead of oily fries. Salad greens, broccoli and carrots – these offer color and variety to the plate,
and they taste great. Alternatively, a plain baked potato is loaded with
flavor even without toppings.

Instead of: Fried entrees| Order: Broiled fish or chicken Fried foods can add major calories that nobody really needs – and
broiled meats are just as delicious. If the restaurant can’t prepare
an entrée without frying or breading, peel off the coating before eating.

Instead of: A whole entree| Order: Salad with an appetizer Many restaurants serve portions that are just too big. A salad with a
tasty appetizer can be just as filling for most people, and provide enough
variety of ingredients to make it satisfying.

Instead of: Heavy salad dressing | Order: A squeeze of lemon with touch
of olive oil If low-calorie substitutes like vinegar or lemon aren’t available,
just order dressings “on the side.” This goes for entrees
and sides that come with sauces and gravies, too.

Instead of: White bread | Order: Whole-grain toast Refined white-flour breads, rolls and bagels can cause insulin and sugar
to spiral upward. Whole grains don’t cause these spikes and are
healthier in general. If the temptation to dig into the bread basket is
too much, ask the server not to bring one!

Restaurants are better-prepared to meet the needs of the diabetic if they
are contacted ahead of time. Ask whether dishes can be prepared with lower-fat
oils, no extra sauces, less salt or broiled instead of fried. And an internet
search of diabetic-friendly restaurants in the area can bring up locations
and menus that work well with many meal plans.

“Just remember, for a diet plan to work well, it needs a good foundation
in light of the medical conditions being addressed, while trying to accommodate,
to the extent possible, someone's preferences and tastes,” says
Dr. Brewer. “Always consult with a physician with questions about
what foods should be avoided or preferred, and before starting any diabetes-related
diet.”

Popular Categories

The general information presented by HealthCalling is not intended to serve
as medical advice or as a diagnosis. Please get in touch with your primary
care physician for any medical concerns. For suggested topics and comments
on our stories, please connect with us via our
contact us form.